The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth. Technological advances in IC materials, design, and fabrication tools have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. In the course of these advances, fabrication methods, tools, and materials have struggled to realize the desire for smaller feature sizes.
Lithography is a mechanism by which a pattern is projected onto a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, having a photosensitive layer formed thereon. The pattern is typically induced by passing radiation through a patterned photomask. Though lithography tools and methods have experienced significant advances in decreasing the line width of an imaged element, further advances may be desired. For example, the profile of the imaged feature of photosensitive material may lack the fidelity to the pattern required to accurately reproduce the desired pattern on the substrate. For example, unwanted, residual photosensitive material may remain after imaging and development; or portions of the photosensitive material needed to perform as a masking element may be removed or otherwise damaged.